retail ops

Fresh Follow-ups

Karlen McLean

The eyewear sale and dispensing are done. How do you follow up with clients?

We would phone specific clients (i.e., troublesome types) two weeks post-dispense to ask how they were doing with their new eyewear and to offer telephone troubleshooting with a return to the office for service if necessary. But some practices today take a more fun, effective course of action.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

First, make sure your overall attitude and actions are upbeat, helpful, and service-based. “Emulate excellence at every opportunity, and carry a passionate message throughout the patient’s time with your practice,” says Mile Brujic, OD, a private practitioner in Bowling Green, OH. “This will serve as the impetus for future loyalty and creative ideas to keep your patients engaged with your office.”

Contacting clients post-dispense may be best handled by the ECP who helped them. “When jobs are dispensed, we take that paperwork and put it in a folder of the appropriate associate,” says Jay Maxwell, LDO, of See Eyewear, Winter Park, FL. “Then once a week we write a quick note in appreciation of the purchase. Not scripted; just true words and maybe a follow-up blurb of a conversation we shared.”

If you’re calling, concise voicemail messaging is essential, as is keeping a conversation professional, friendly, and to the point. The same written skills are just as, if not more, important.

“We used to make phone calls, but stopped because today, people don’t have time,” says Edward Beiner, owner of Edward Beiner Purveyor of Fine Eyewear, which is based in Miami and has 11 locations. “Now we send cards and handwritten notes with content like, ‘We enjoyed helping you with your eyewear purchase,’ and ‘Please let us know if we can be of further help with your eyewear.’

“The optician who helped the client handwrites the note with a targeted-to-the-sale reference,” he adds. “The note card, envelope, and even the stamp are personalized.”

And something as simple as remembering names can boost practice cache. “The biggest thing is to try to remember clients’ names and refer to them that way every time you see them,” Maxwell says. “Patients are always impressed with that, and feel very special.”

IT’S THE EXTRA THINGS

Offer some lagniappe; a little extra. Doing so can instill client confidence and loyalty. It also helps build your practice’s brand.

“People who are brand loyal to a certain manufacturer will often times continue to purchase from it because of a relationship they feel they have with the brand,” Dr. Brujic says. “Ultimately, the relationship we want our patients to have with our office emulates that of brand loyalty.”

Practice-branded products given away at dispensing and extras help increase exposure and brand recognition, says Nate Ogura, owner, Eyes on Fremont in Seattle, WA. “[Our]logo is on the case, cleaning cloth, and spray cleaner dispensed with each pair of glasses,” he says. “We offer free spray cleaner refills. This shows our ethos of reduce, recycle, reuse and customers are in the store more frequently. Branded reusable tote bags are merchandised in the retail area; we give these to customers excited about our brand.”

Offering an eyewear portfolio at each dispense is an easy way to ramp-up your practice’s professionalism and client education, as well as your response factor.

“With every sale, our patients receive a receipt folder that has information about their warranty, eyeglass care and cleaning tips, a coupon for another purchase, and information that thanks them and directs them to a website for a satisfaction survey,” explains Andrea Reis, ABOC, clinical manager-optical, with Davis Duehr Dean—Regent Optical in Madison, WI.

IT’S THE INNOVATIVE THINGS

To stand out from the crowd, follow up with something different that grabs clients’ attention. “The follow-up really starts during dispense,” says Ogura. “Staff is encouraged to tell customers that their glasses will need periodic adjustments and maintenance.”

Ogura explains how what might initially be perceived as a negative is really a positive.

“We tell [our clients], ‘There’s no need to suffer with uncomfortable glasses; we can make them comfortable again,’” he says. “This helps foster a relationship in which the customer is in the shop much more frequently, with a more consistent exposure to new frame styles, colors, and looks. We have a lot of customers who find new sunglasses or second pairs while we’re tuning up [their other] glasses.”

The practice follows up on this by sending out adjustment reminder postcards three months after pickup. “The dialogue and experience in the store are the most effective means of getting customers returning to the store more often,” says Ogura.

Clients return most often when staff members “take ownership in what they do and the business,” Beiner notes. “We send email blasts to keep our name out there. But it’s the personal notes and relationships that help our business the most. We send flowers and personalized gifts, typically when a sale is more than $3,000 to $4,000, multiple pairs, or for any primary client situation that’s reviewed and approved.” EB